Aug 8, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker (10) passes against the Washington Redskins during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports
One bad practice can set the Twitter universe ablaze. That’s especially true when a key player has an awful showing during training camp. If a player struggles during training camp, then how can that player excel during a game?
An Aug. 11 practice didn’t go well for Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker. Here were a few tweets from those who followed the event. We’ll skip the panicky tweets and stick with the informative ones:
This has been Locker's worst practice of training camp without question. #Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 12, 2013
Jake Locker already has hat trick with 3 interceptions. Still at least 20 minutes left. Does he go for a quad? Pollard has 2. #Titans
— Teresa Walker (@TeresaMWalker) August 12, 2013
Locker even having a hard time pitching the ball tonight. Just made errant pitch to CJ, who lost ball out of bounds #Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 12, 2013
Locker should've just thrown his fourth pick of the night. LB Moise Fokou just had a Locker pass bounce on his hands #Titans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) August 12, 2013
Training camp is a strange phenomenon. For the most part, Locker has been praised for having a strong camp. Does that say more about Locker playing well or is he taking advantage of a suspect defense? Let’s not forget that this defense surrendered a franchise-worst 471 points just one season ago. They’re undergoing some personnel, coaching and scheme changes. Locker probably isn’t facing the greatest or most consistent defense.
On Sunday afternoon (Aug. 11), a friend and I was discussing training camps. The discussion shifted to his high school football days and players who were “practice superstars.” During practices, these players were dominant because they were so familiar with the opposition and knew how to attack the defensive schemes. During real games, those same players were useless because they were facing different talents, mindsets and schemes.
There are so many external factors that make it difficult to compare one bad practice to future output during meaningful games. For all anyone knows, the offense could’ve been running some different plays or assignments that they weren’t comfortable with. Locker doesn’t respond well and just ends up having an off-night. That’s what training camp is for: testing things out.
If an almost four-interception outing happened every few practices, then it’s a concern. Write this off as a learning experience and a bad performance that happened at the right time. Won’t overreact to a practice. Just don’t let it happen during a real game.